


Tell Me About It, Stud

by spoilerings



Series: Waiting for Wonderful [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Everyone Is Gay, First Meetings, M/M, So does Clint but he doesn't show it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-18 04:37:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11283879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spoilerings/pseuds/spoilerings
Summary: Bucky’s life is dull, devoid of romance, and dependent entirely upon eating cheap pizza and watching late-night movies in his pajamas. Only some of this changes when he meets Clint.





	Tell Me About It, Stud

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: everything about this is super self-indulgent, especially the fact that everything/everyone (including nat) is super gay. also i have never been to a gay club, so forgive me for any possible inaccuracies. hope you enjoy <3

"Come on, James, you're being ridiculous."

 

"No, I am not, Natasha. You're being a dick."

 

"I'm just trying to be a good friend and help! It's entirely your fault that you live a sad, lonely life, and never try to find a boyfriend, or even a hookup! You haven't gotten any action in, what, 7 months?"

 

Bucky starts to protest when Natasha cuts him off by saying, "Masturbating to Ewan McGregor does _not_ count." He then protests again and Natasha continues, "I saw the way you got when we watched Revenge of the Sith. It's disgusting. And so very sad."

 

Bucky can't formulate a response to that.

 

"So that's why we're going out tonight, and you're going to find a nice little twink to blow you in the bathroom and maybe come home with you if you're lucky, and I'm going to find a lonely college girl who's mostly straight but trying her luck with women, and we're both going to have a grand ol' time. Capiche?" she finishes, and pats Bucky on the chest when he, still, can do nothing but splutter awkwardly.

 

The thing is, it's really not his fault that he hasn't dated or hooked up with anyone in so long. At least, Bucky _really_ doesn't think so. Every time he's tried, the guy realizes he's not nearly as interested in Bucky's personality as he is in Bucky's face, and he either makes up an excuse halfway through the date or - literally, this has happened once - continues to swipe through tinder while sitting across from Bucky. Right there. On their date.

 

He’s perfectly fine with being alone. He has a kickass roommate-slash-best-friend who - despite her passive aggression toward Bucky’s nonexistent love life - means the world to him and makes him incredibly happy and would never let anyone hurt him, and they share a cozy apartment with great water pressure, and he’s on track to become the manager at the mechanic place he’s been working at. And, yes, he has the loyalty of his dominant left hand and Ewan McGregor to fall back on. He doesn’t get what the problem is. He’s already had a ton of difficulty and real struggle in his life, and it’s taken him forever to get to this point, a point where he can say he’s content and be telling the complete truth. He doesn’t think he should jinx any of that. If it only requires him to watch Moulin Rouge on a weekly basis and intimately hug a pillow to feel safer and less alone at night, he believes it’s not worth crying about.

 

However, he really owes Natasha for dealing with him and his many issues for so long, and he’s not really in any place to deny her of a night out with her best friend. So he swallows his pride - or in this case, his deplorability - and puts on the cleanest pair of black jeans he can find as well as some cologne. He would actually prefer to look as unattractive as possible because he doesn’t have enough emotional energy to actually hook up with someone, but it’s Nat. It’s just for Nat.  So Bucky fights the urge to cry into his designated boyfriend pillow and instead ties his hair back into the kind of ponytail he’s learned everyone on legs is into.

 

(He also adds another spray of cologne.)

 

* * *

 

As it turns out, Bucky is not as prepared for this as he thought he was. Natasha can always sense when he’s getting anxious about something, and she’s been meticulously distracting him from his thoughts by initiating small talk with their uber driver and smiling at Bucky a lot and just generally being an angel. When the shitty Nissan they’re in gets close enough that the long line in front of the club is visible, Bucky feels like his heart is sort of just going to fall.

 

“I don’t know if I can do this, Nat, seriously, why don’t I just call Steve and he can come keep an eye on you while you grind on people? It’s been too long since he’s been out, anyway, I think I should just go home-”

 

“James. Stop deflecting,” Natasha interrupts. “This is going to be fun, and you’re going to be fine, and this is the only night I know one of the bouncers, so this is your one chance to go somewhere for free. And I’m _sure_ someone will buy you a drink. You can’t seriously want to pass up free stuff.” And God damn it, Bucky absolutely hates how gracious and intelligent this woman is.

 

When they’re walking up to the door, Bucky feels as if his nerves are reverberating throughout his body. Nat’s holding his right hand in both of hers and rubbing her thumbs in circles on his palm, and they are just about the most bizarre sight that can be seen anywhere in or around that night club. It’s not doing much to alleviate Bucky’s anxiety.

 

He does, however, become… distracted - _not entranced, nope_ \- when he sees the guy who’s standing outside the door. Shapely jaw, fluffy blonde hair, gorgeous eyes, and an adorable smile to go along with it. He also has some serious five o'clock (eleven o’clock?) shadow and two bandages on his face, as well as a brace on his wrist, and Bucky doesn’t understand how that makes this man _more_ attractive. Since when is he into the sleepy, lazy, poorly-groomed look? Fluffy Hair Guy looks up while Bucky is in the middle of gawking at him, and smiles in Bucky’s direction, which confuses him for a brief moment, until he realizes that Fluffy Hair Guy is, in fact, smiling at Natasha. Which means this is Nat’s bouncer friend who is one of the only three-ish other people in the universe that she knows and really trusts. The state of Bucky’s well-and-truly-fucked-ness really doesn’t need to mentioned.

 

Natasha goes up to Fluffy Hair Guy and hugs him the way that shows just how much he means to her, and Bucky’s heart aches a little from a mix of pride for his best friend and disappointment that the small chance he may have had with FHG has been defenestrated. Obviously, he can’t steal this guy from Nat.

 

Except… when their hug breaks, and it’s clear that FHG is officially looking at Bucky - really _looking_ \- Nat catches it immediately and smiles a tiny little smirky corner smile before pulling Bucky by his bicep and saying, “Clint, this is my _other_ best friend James.” She turns to Bucky, adding to him, “This is Clint.”

 

Bucky waves his hand awkwardly, squeaks out a little, “Hi. Uh, you can call me Bucky,” and tries to conceal his embarrassment about what he just allowed himself to do. He is not shy. He just has a really bad concoction of anxieties that like to bubble up when he’s in the presence of cute boys who have not yet disappointed him.

 

Clint’s eyes do a weird thing that looks like they’re smiling, and he replies, “Hi, Bucky. I’m glad to finally meet the man who’s trying to take my place.”

 

Bucky miraculously interprets this joke correctly, and gains a sliver of his confidence back as he gives a slight smirk and tucks a lock of hair behind his ear, chuckling, “Already have. This woman is putty in my hands.”

 

Nat swats him on the same bicep she was previously holding and informs Clint, “If you want us, I’ll be seducing a beautiful young woman, and Bucky will be sitting at the bar, alone, and _very_ much in the need for some adult male company.”

 

There’s nothing that Bucky can do but look absolutely mortified as he’s dragged into the pulsating death trap.

 

* * *

 

As promised, 20 minutes later, Natasha is grinding against a very beautiful young woman - really, it doesn’t make sense how quickly she can seduce women, even if they are at a gay club - and Bucky is nursing a tall, cold glass of water. Nat’s previous promise of free drinks has yet to be fulfilled. Bucky guesses it has something to do with how sad and alone he looks while occasionally sipping water from a straw, but he came here with no positive expectations whatsoever, so he’s feeling okay. He keeps noticing the bartender’s sympathetic looks in his direction, which is a little comforting but mostly humiliating.

 

Bucky’s thinking he’s fully content to keep wallowing in his own misery when he feels a hand on his shoulder and jumps a little. His face is slightly red as he turns around, and- oh. It’s Clint. Seeing him sitting completely alone at the bar with his sad eyes and ice water. His face goes a little redder.

 

Clint sighs (grunts?) as he sits down in the stool next to Bucky, leaning his back against the bar. “So. What’s got you looking like an angtsy teen over here?” Clint adopts a light, breathy pitch, then, adding, “Tell me about it, stud.”

 

Bucky laughs, honest to God _laughs_ , all big and open and loud, and replies, “Mostly waiting for a scruffy-lookin’ guy to come over and try to seduce me with Grease quotes. Looks like you’re that guy.”

 

Clint chuckles in response. “Well, what can I say, I was trying to think of the gayest possible way to approach you, and the first thing that came to mind was a musical reference. Also, who’s scruffy looking? Quite frankly, I resent the implication that I am anything but diligent when it comes to my professional appearance.”

 

And fuck. Bucky just keeps smiling even wider at Clint, who is cute, witty as all hell, and actually willing to talk to him. To Bucky! And seems like he’s enjoying it! And recognizes his dorky Star Wars references! Bucky realizes that this guy is the answer to the prayers he hadn’t even known he made, and almost forgets to say something back to Clint rather than cursing Natasha for not introducing them sooner. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” Bucky puts his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m sure your job is nothing close to easy.”

 

“Eh, it’s alright. It’s definitely not easy, but I do love it.” Clint turns away from Bucky - Bucky follows with his own gaze - and looks out to everyone dancing, drinking, talking, _existing_ . “Every time I come here, I’m amazed by how much love you feel. I mean, yeah, some of these people are inebriated beyond recognition and some only come ‘cause they’re horny, but it’s nice. All these people are so different, but they all choose to come _here_ for the same reason. They just wanna have fun and be loved. I don’t know. It just feels… _Good_. Like the world doesn’t suck so much, and we’re not all totally hopeless.” Clint blinks away what looks to be a daydream in his eyes, and turns back to Bucky. “You know?”

 

Bucky, whose heart rate had accelerated continuously throughout Clint’s monologue due to how much he related to what was being said, just takes a deep breath in, and exhales a tiny “yeah.”

 

Clint must sense that he went slightly too far with what he thought was positive sentimentality, and adds, “Plus, it pays miraculously well for the surprisingly small amount of movement I do.”

 

Bucky chuckles again, and really, it’s getting ridiculous how much more he finds he likes Clint each second. He’s about to reply when Clint moves to stand up. For a split second, Bucky is so terrified - _no, don’t go_ , he thinks to himself, _I thought you liked me_ \- and impulsively stands up as well.

 

Clint smiles comfortingly, and tells him, “I have to get back to work. But, you should probably give me your number.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and opens a new contact, hands it over to Bucky. “For scientific purposes, of course. I’d give you mine, but I have a feeling you might not call me.”

 

Bucky is dumbfounded as he takes the phone, typing in his number, his first (nick) name, and last name for good measure. “How’d you know that I’m that kind of guy?” he asks, a little creeped out at how intuitive Clint is.

 

Clint smiles, takes his phone back, looks at it to make sure Bucky didn’t cheat, and replies, “I don’t know. You just seem pretty shy, Barnes.” His smile turns into a bit of a smirk before he pivots on one foot and walks away, leaving Bucky astonished, confused, elated, and already patiently awaiting the previously discussed phone call.

**Author's Note:**

> i have actually put a lot of thought into background stories and possible new fic ideas, so hopefully this series doesn’t flop prematurely. constructive comments are always appreciated and anything positive will significantly help with motivation :)


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